.058 or.050

[treefarmer rick]

hello I need to purchase a new bar and chain was wondering what is the difference between .050 and the .058. I have a husky 372xp w/ a 24inch bar and chain.

[billporterfield]

.008
.050 is the most common size chain
Have a great day

[Southside]

Its the gauge or width of the drive teeth on the chain. You need to run the same size as the drive sprocket,  which will be whatever you had on before. FWIW I run .050 on my saws.

[HiTech]

it will or should tell you on the bar.

[Corley5]

It's a regional thing too.  .058 is what most everyone uses up here and it's what the saw shops stock.

[barbender]

I thought that the drive sprocket was only specific to pitch, not guage. At any rate, I bought a 24" Windsor bar years back, in .058. I wish I had gotten it in .050, even though .058 is more common up here, I order my chain from Bailey's and they have several typesI would like to try that are only available in .050 (such as a skiptooth semi-chisel woodland pro chain).

[BargeMonkey]

 Sprockets are pitch, not gauge dependent. Its 90% .058 up here. Personally it doesnt matter when doing a complete bar and chain, but it helps to run the same size chain on everything.

[coxy]

.058 for me ;D

[Maine logger88]

I run .058 on all my saws

[celliott]

All my saws run .050 or .058  :  At least they're all 3\8 chain  :D
Functionally, they're indifferent. It's nice to have everything the same though. I typically buy used\parts saws because I like to tinker on them, and am at the mercy of what comes on the saw. And if it's a nice bar, yeah, I'm gonna keep it and use it!

[chevytaHOE5674]

Be hard pressed to find anything but .050 chain UP here.

[John Mc]

Rick -  As you're probably noticing by now, the preference for .050 or .058" seems to be a regional thing.  Most of what I run into in my area (VT & New England) is .058  (Though those running Stihl use .063)

I run .058 just because that's what the chainsaw shops stock around here. It makes it easier if I need to pick up a spare on short notice. Some of the big box stores sell both, but I'm generally not using the types of chains they sell.

[lumberjack48]

I used nothing but 50 gauge, when i ran a grew in the 70's, i had as many as 9 saw's. I wanted bars and chains interchangeable, saves a lot of headache.

[lynde37avery]

3/8 .058 on all my logging saws. i dont know why they make two sizes. i all ways wondered about that. then i got my small one which is "im 99% sure" a .050 .325 or w/e chain.

[jwilly3879]

We sell (2) .058 to every .050 at my wife's store. My son runs .058 on his saws, 372 and 385 and I have .058 on my 372 and .050 on the 272 and 670, all are 72DL just need to check if you grab a chain out of the tool box. When I need a new bar I will switch to .058, I have always run .050 because at one time I had both Stihl and Husky and there weren't any .058 bars to fit the Stihl.